Summary
Following intraocular injection of the dopamine neurotoxin 6-hydroxydopamine (10–50 μg on two successive days in a Ringer vehicle containing ascorbate and pargyline) and an incubation period of 1 to 18 days, degeneration was noted in presumptive amacrine cells in the retina of the turtle,Pseudemys scripta elegans. Injection of vehicle alone produced no effect. Affected perikarya initially showed swollen mitochondria, lysosomes and distended cisternae. At later stages the cells took on a darkened appearance. In contrast, affected amacrine processes in the inner plexiform layer became markedly distended and lost their cytoplasmic contents, resulting in empty, very swollen profiles. No degeneration was noted distal to the affected cell bodies, i.e. the affected cells were not interplexiform neurons. Cells lesioned by 6-hydroxydopamine were shown to accumulate [3H]dopamine. Intraocular administration of 5,6-dihydroxytryptamine (a single dose of 10–40 μg in the same vehicle) followed by 4–6 days incubation resulted in a marked darkening of certain bipolar cell axon terminals, cell bodies and Landolt's clubs. The toxic effects of 5,6-dihy droxy tryptamine were blocked by zimelidine, a serotonin uptake blocker. Thus, these two neurotoxins have different targets in the turtle retina. At the highest dose tested, however, 6-hydroxydopamine did produce degenerative changes in the presumed serotonergic bipolar cell.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Angeletti, P. V. &Levi-Montalcini, R. (1970) Sympathetic nerve cell destruction in newborn mammals by 6-hydroxydopamine.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA 65, 114–21.
Baumgarten, H. G., Jenner, S., Bjorklund, A., Klemm, H. P. &Schlossberger, H. G. (1982) Serotonin neurotoxins. InBiology of Serotonergic Transmission (edited byOsborne, N. N.), pp. 249–77. London: John Wiley & Sons.
Blier, P. &de Montigny L. (1983) Electrophysiological investigations on the effect of repeated zimelidine administration on serotonergic neurotransmission in the rat.Journal of Neuroscience 3, 1270–8.
Bloom, F. E. (1971) Fine structural changes after intracisternal injection of 6-hydroxydopamine. In6-Hydroxydopamine and Catecholamine Neurons (edited byMalmfors, T. &Thoenen, H.), pp. 135–50. Amsterdam: North Holland.
Chan-Palay, V. (1976) Serotonin axons in the supra- and subependymal plexuses and in the leptomeninges; their roles in local alterations of cerebrospinal fluid and vasomotor activity.Brain Research 102, 102–30.
Descarries, L., Watkins, K. C. &Lapierre, Y. (1977) Noradrenergic axon terminals in the cerebral cortex of rat. III. Topometric ultrastructural analysis.Brain Research 133, 197–222.
Dowling, J. E. &Ehinger, B. (1978a) The interplexiform system. I. Synapses of the dopaminergic neurones of the goldfish retina.Proceedings of the Royal Society of London, Series B 201, 7–26.
Dowling, J., E. &Ehinger, B. (1978b) Synaptic organization of the dopaminergic neurons in the rabbit retina.Journal of Comparative Neurology 180, 203–20.
Ehinger, B. (1982) Neurotransmitter systems in the retina.Retina 2, 305–21.
Ehinger, B. &Floren, I. (1980) Retinal indoleamine accumulating neurons.Neurochemistry 1, 209–29.
Ehinger, B. &Nordenfelt, L. (1977) Destruction of retinal dopamine-containing neurons in rabbit and goldfish.Experimental Eye Research 24, 179–87.
Gabella, G. (1976)Structure of the Autonomie Nervous System. London: Chapman & Hall.
Gerschenfeld, H. M., Neyton, J., Piccolino, M. &Witkovsky, P. (1982) L-horizontal cells of the turtle: network organization and coupling modulation.Biomedical Research 3, 21–32.
Hansen, J. &Ord, T. (1978) Effects of 6-hydroxydopamine on rat carotid body chief cells.Experientia 34, 1357.
Hökfelt, T., Jonsson, G. &Sachs, C. (1972) Fine structure and fluorescence morphology of adrenergic nerves after 6-hydroxydopaminein vivo andin vitro.Zeitschrift für Zellforschung und mikroskopische Anatomie 131, 529–43.
Holmgren-Taylor, I. (1982) Ultrastructure and synapses of the [3H]dopamine-accumulating neurons in the retina of the rabbit.Experimental Eye Research 35, 555–72.
Iversen, L. L. (1975) Uptake processes for biogenic amines. InHandbook of Psychopharmacology (edited byIversen, L. L., Iversen, S. D. &Snyder, S. H.), pp. 381–442. New York: Plenum Press.
Jonsson, G. (1980) Chemical neurotoxins as denervation tools in neurobiology.Annual Review of Neurosciences 3, 169–87.
Klara, P. M., Kostrezewa, R. M. &Brizzee, K. R. (1976) Destructive action of systemically administered 6-hydroxydopamine on the rat area postrema.Brain Research 104, 187–92.
Malmfors, T. &Thoenen, H. (eds) (1971)6-Hydroxydopamine and Catecholamine Neurons. Amsterdam: North Holland.
Nguyen-Legros, J., Versaux-Botteri, C., Vigny, A. &Raoux, N. (1985) Tyrosine hydroxylase immunohistochemistry fails to demonstrate dopaminergic interplexiform cells in the turtle retina.Brain Research 339, 323–8.
Osborne, N. N. (1982a) Uptake, localization and release of serotonin in the chick retina.Journal of Physiology 331, 469–79.
Osborne, N. N. (1982b) Evidence for serotonin being a neurotransmitter in the retina. InBiology of Serotonergic Transmission (edited byOsborne, N. N.), pp. 401–29. London: John Wiley & Sons.
Parkinson, D. &Rando, R. R. (1981) Evidence for a neurotransmitter role for 5-hydroxytryptamine in chick retina.Journal of Neuroscience 1, 1211–17.
Petitjean, F., Laguzzi, R., Sordet, F., Jouvet, M. &Pujol, J. F. (1972) Effets de l'injection intraventriculaire de 6-hydroxy-dopamine. I. Sur les monoamines cérébrales du chat.Brain Research 48, 281–93.
Piccolino, M., Neyton, J. &Gerschenfeld, H. M. (1984) Decrease of the gap junction permeability induced by dopamine and cyclic 3′-5′ adenosine monophosphate in horizontal cells of the turtle retina.Journal of Neuroscience 4, 2477–88.
Richards, J. G. (1971) Ultrastructural effects of 6-hydroxydopamine on catecholamine-containing neurons in the rat brain. In6-Hydroxydopamine and Catecholamine Neurons (edited byMalmfors, T. &Thoenen, H.), pp. 151–61. Amsterdam: North Holland.
Teranishi, T., Negishi, K. &Kato, S. (1983) Dopamine modulates S-potential amplitude and dye coupling between external horizontal cells in carp retina.Nature 301, 243–6.
Tranzer, J. P. &Richards, J. G. (1971) Fine structural aspects of the effect of 6-hydroxydopamine on peripheral adrenergic neurons. In 6-Hydroxydopamine and Catecholamine Neurons (edited byMalmfors, T. &Thoenen, H.), pp. 15–31. Amsterdam: North Holland.
Weakly, J. N. (1973) The action of cobalt ions on neuromuscular transmission in the frog.Journal of Physiology 234, 597–612.
Weiler, R. &Schutte, M. (1985) Morphological and pharmacological analysis of putative serotonergic bipolar and amacrine cells in the retina of a turtle,Pseudemys scripta elegans.Cell and Tissue Research 241, 373–82.
Witkovsky, P., Eldred, W. &Karten, H. J. (1984) Catecholamine- and indoleamine-containing neurons in the turtle retina.Journal of Comparative Neurology 228, 217–25.
Wong, W. C. &Tan, C.-K. (1981) Ultrastructural changes after intracisternal injection of 6-hydroxydopamine in the intermediolateral nucleus of the monkey (Macaca fascicularis).Journal of Anatomy 133, 321–31.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Witkovsky, P., Alones, V. & Piccolino, M. Morphological changes induced in turtle retinal neurons by exposure to 6-hydroxydopamine and 5,6-dihydroxytryptamine. J Neurocytol 16, 55–67 (1987). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02456697
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02456697